Waru IDPs demand return home over poor camp

People displaced by Boko Haram in the North-east and living in a camp in Abuja for the last four years have lamented the deplorable environment of the camp and demanded to be returned to their states of origin. The camp, called Yimitu Village, is sited at Waru, Apo area of Abuja and houses hundreds, with […]

People displaced by Boko Haram in the North-east and living in a camp in Abuja for the last four years have lamented the deplorable environment of the camp and demanded to be returned to their states of origin.

The camp, called Yimitu Village, is sited at Waru, Apo area of Abuja and houses hundreds, with many dependent on donations and philanthropists for food and basic needs.

The residents made their demand to the National Emergency Management Agency during a medical outreach by a nongovernmental group, Envision Global Care Foundation, insisting they are “sick and tired of this environment,” according to one resident, James Vincent.

The residents lamented the absence of health care facilities and water.

“We have to trek several kilometres before we are able to obtain water and sometimes we buy water at exorbitant price, which is not right,” said Vincent. 

He said many women and children have contracted water-borne diseases due to lack of potable water.

“Even when we have to go to the primary health care facilities outside the community, there is no money for us to leave the community,” said Vincent.

“Our children are missing school, and education is very important. We want government to come to our aid,” he said.

Formerly a petty trader, he has lived in Yimitu IDP camp for the past four years and turned to petty farming, but insists that what he makes off the land is insufficient to cater for his wife and five children.

Another resident of Waru camp, Sarah Duka, also appealed to be relocated, insisting that the population was uncomfortable.

Her daughter suffers from malnutrition, she said in tears.

“My daughter cannot get three square meals a day. Please take us out of this community, we are tired,” she lamented.

Envision, which donates relief materials every month to IDP camps, has called for stronger health systems to reduce diseases among residents.

“We are here to help the residents of the camps who have suffered hardship and pains over the years, due to displacement from their states of origin,” said Chinonyerem Ndukwe, a technical assistant for the group.

Envision ran general tests on hundreds of residents at the weekend and treated many for malaria, citing the absence of a health centre where they could be treated.

“We are here to cater for their needs and give them free health care services that will reduce the diseases in the camps,”said Ndukwe, while stressing the need to mobilise resources and relief materials for care in camps.

“We can see that the situation on ground is not very encouraging,” said Benjamin Oghenah, deputy director for Disaster and Risk Reduction at NEMA.

“There are no basic facilities for the residents that will make them comfortable, no health facilities at the moment,” he added.

He said that NEMA would be glad to benefit from data generated by outreaches in the camp and “work with the result to alleviate the plight of people in the camp.”